Fluid-jet printing devices eject printing fluid drops such as ink drops onto a print medium, such as paper. The ink drops bond with the paper to produce visual representations of text, images or other graphical content on the paper. In order to produce the details of the printed content, nozzles in a print head accurately and selectively release multiple ink drops as the relative positioning between the print head and printing medium is precisely controlled. Fluid-jet printing technologies include thermal and piezoelectric inkjet technologies. Thermal inkjet printheads eject fluid drops from a nozzle by passing electrical current through a heating element to generate heat and vaporize a small portion of the fluid within a firing chamber. Piezoelectric inkjet printheads use a piezoelectric material actuator to generate pressure pulses that force ink drops out of a nozzle.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.